A private legal practitioner has recommended the separation of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau from the Ghana Police Service.

Justin Pawvra Teriwajah believes this will enable it to check police indiscipline effectively.

According to him, having an independent body to monitor the Police and their activities will help address some concerns of people regarding reporting any injustice done to them by the Police.

Speaking on The Law on JoyNews, on Sunday, Mr Teriwajah said, "our Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau is part of the Police system; it is the IGP who appoints and also serves as head of that unit.

"So imagine someone was working with a colleague, they are very close, and later he is posted to that unit, and he has to turn around and investigate his friend, it becomes a bit problematic," he said.

Mr Teriwajah said in other jurisdictions, this unit is not only a separate entity from the Service but is also managed by ex-servicemen with clean records.

He stated that "they scrutinise the people that they employ. They make sure that it is as independent as possible to be an effective check to police the Police as the Police polices the rest of us. But, in Ghana, we still have a long way to go."

The legal practitioner said if this module is implemented in Ghana, a very independent organisation will act as a check on the Police more effectively.

Mr Teriwajah added that there are other avenues that aggrieved persons could seek Police accountability in the meantime.

These include civil suits and reporting the matter to the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice.

"When there is human rights violation or administrative injustice, CHRAJ will investigate the matter by their system, and justice will be given to you.

"But, I am not too sure how many people use the CHRAJ system to get Police misbehaviour checked," he stated.